MG

**__ Week of August 15-19th 2011__** - //Mission and Vision Statements//
you want your company to become. I also learned that strategic planning is key to define a business identity; along with the mission and vision.
 * __What did I learn?__ -** I learned that Mission Statements are the purpose of the company. Vision Statements are seeing into the future and what

__**What did I find interesting?** -__ I found interesting that mission and vision are not the same. I always thought they were the same thing, and I learned the difference. I also found interesting business's purpose can differ from each other.

__**What questions did I have?**__ - My question is: //1.// Why do businesses need to understand their purpose?

**__What did I learn__?** -I learned that Hershey is actually one of the country's leading business and brands. They are on top for a lot of the lists.
__**What did I find interesting?**__ -I found interesting that Hershey is the most trusting business. It surprised me because I didn't know people would find a chocolate company trustworthy, so they have to be doing something wonderful.

__**What questions do I still have?**__ -My question is, how do you plan on staying on top for the best business? What are your strategies?

**__Week 4:__** //**Shareholder Value / Finances**// __**What did I learn?**__ -I learned that the goal of the company is to not just make money, but to make a profit. I also learned what an asset and liability is, and what a balance sheet is.

__**What did I find interesting?**__ - I found interesting that if you buy part of a company, you either have 30, 60, or 90 days to pay the company back. It is not immediate.


 * __What questions do I still have__**? - I am still not clear about what is on the balance sheet. Ex: accounts recievable, pre-paid expenses, and working capitals.

__**Week 6:**__ //**Consumer Trends**//

This week we learned about consumer trends and technology. One thing I found interesting from this was the new technology, such as the things that you can just pull up information on. For example, in McDonald's, a man wanted to learn the nutrional information on it, so he just pulled up a screen and it showed it. Another thing I found interesting was PeaPod. It was very fascinating that you can now order groceries online and have them delivered at a specific time to your house. Its amazing! One thing I learned from the presentation was that trends last longer than fads. Fads come and go, but trends are here for a while. For example, games may change, but the idea of playing games will stay. Another thing I learned was that the US will change drastically in about 20 years with its technology. It will advance a lot to be better advanced with the rest of the world, like Asia.

**__Week 7:__ //Market Research//**

This week I learned that ethnography is gaining information about a person's beliefs and values and finding ways to make it help towards your business. I also learned that when you want to make a new product it takes a lot of time (2 years) and a lot of money (more than $1mil). For example, it took a long time for the guys to come up with Eat. Think. Smile, and they had to test it and change it until it was put onto the shelves. This week, I found interesting that Michael had started with the water, but found out people did not like it, so he thought and switched to gronola. I also found interesting that you can scan a product and a membership card and it can find out lots of different information about yourself like, where you live, and what magazines you read. It was very interesting and scary to find that out!

**__Week 8:__ //Market Analysis//**

This week I found interesting that they found out how customers shop by standing in the shop and looking at the customers and seeing which was their favorite product and what they bought with it, and also how much money they had to spend. I also found interesting that the man from India actually spit out his Twizzler because he didn't like the taste. It shows how different countries and tastes can be. One thing I learned this week is that Hershey saves money buy shipping their chocolate with companies that are already going to the same place and paying them. It requires less time and money for Hershey to set up their own shipping. Another thing I learned is that in Mexican shops, everything was so close together that you have to find a way to make your product stand out from the others. Hershey made signs in front of their candy to make customers come and see what the product is.

This week I learned about product development and how it goes through the process of developing a product. One thing I found interesting is that some customers do not like it when the Hershey logo is on a product; especially if it is supposed to be healthy, because they will think it is not healthy. One thing I learned is that you can come up with a product, and it could be a complete fail, so you have to make sure when doing research that the consumers will enjoy this product and brainstorm ideas so the product will be successful. I also learned that Hershey licenses their chocolate for a lot of brands like Betty Crocker and General Mills. Another thing I found interesting was when they were doing the tests for ReGen and other sports drinks, ReGen was the winner when it came to helping your muscle soreness.
 * __Week 9__- //Product Development// **

**__Week 10__- //Trial Production//** This week I learned about trial production and how it goes through the production process. We toured the Hershey Technical Plant and learned about how it works. We also learned about Edward Deming. One thing I found interesting this week was that the Hershey Factory uses 200,000 gallons of milk for their chocolate. That is so much! I also found interesting how they make the jolly ranchers. We got to see and smell how they add sugar and other ingredients into a bowl and it gets strechted out on a belt and cut off into candy pieces. I also learned that it takes a lot of flavors just to come up with a flavor. It took so many just to make the chocolate flavor and you have to find the right people who can come up with new flavors. I also learned that the Technical Plant is a smaller version of the actual Hershey Factory. They do tests to see how they will work in the big factory. It was really fun to tour the factory and learn many new things!

**__Week 11__- //Branding//** This week I learned about a company's brand and how it affects the company. I learned that each brand has a specific image it trys to display. For example, Hershey is trying to display they are a happy, warm, delicious candy you share with others. I also learned that if companies do not portray a specific image or idea, it will die because customers will get confused and not trust them as a company anymore. One thing I found interesting is everything you see is basically a brand (Nike, Juicy Juice, Toyota). Another thing I found interesting is that sometimes companies make a similar product from another company, customers tend to stick with their trusted previous company because they already trust them.

**__Week 14__- //Special Events//** This week we learned about how to make Special Events. I learned that the Hershey Co. does lots of special events to market for different causes. For example, they made a special event for the Kiss Mobile when it first came out and the cause was for the Children's Miracle Network. Another thing I learned was companies that market special events often pair up with different companies and have sponsers to help. One thing I found interesting is that the brand Reese's is a proud sponser for the NCAA basketball tournament. Also, Reese's sponsered the Bears Cauldar Cup. Antother thing I found interesting is that Hershey partners with movies to promote the movie and Hershey's candy products.

__**Week 15**__- **//Product Safety//** This week we learned about product safety and all the regulations companies have to follow. One thing I learned is that if you need to make a product recall, you need to make it fast and preferably before the product gets shipped out to customers. I also learned that it is better to voluntarially report the product instead of customers contacting the company with a legal suit. One thing I found interesting is that someone hacked the Tylonel pills and it killed many people. I also found interesting that York had found some metal in their product and they had to recall it. I wouldn't think Hershey would have a recall, but it happens to everyone.

**__Week 16__- //Product Components//** This week we learned about product components and commodities. We took a trip to the Hershey Headquarters to meet with Frank and learn about the product components. We went into the commodity room where they had desks set in a circle to keep in contact easily with each other. Each of the employees explained what they did for the company and which product they helped buy from around the world. It was very interesting to hear of how they did business on the computer from certain hours and they could actually stay home and do the work. They spend a lot of money with the product components so they need to make sure they get it at a good price for the company and the farmers that produce it.

**__Week 17__- //Packaging//** This week we learned about product packaging. We also did a packaging researching project. One thing I learned was the different types of packaging; they include: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Another thing I learned was that one of the most effective ways to increase a company's sales is to change the product design. The customers look at the package design and if it doesn't appeal to them, they will most likely not purchase the product. One thing I found interesting was that McDonald's was the world's largest purchaser in the world of recylced paper for their products. Another thing I found interesting was companies decrease their size by a small amount and the customers don't seem to notice, but they notice the price difference and how it got cheaper.

**__Week 18__- //Production Planning//** This week we learned about production planning and how they make the products go from each place. I learned that they go from the customer back to the plant, warehouse, retail and transfered around. I also learned about the make-to-stock production, make-to-order production, and production by lot size for sales and stock orders. One thing I found interesting that the Hershey company is the make-to-stock production because they have candies already made and the customers cannot custom order it because it would take too long. I also found interesting that the customer has a big deal of the planning process because they start with the order and request and the company finishes out the request.

Week 19- Production This week we went to my favorite candy's plant; Reese. We learned about the production process for the Reese. One thing I learned was that they start planning for the seasons candies months before. For example, for Halloween candy, they start planning in the summer months. Another thing I learned was that the Reese plant has 4 processing centers. One thing I found interesting was that they make 9 million Kit Kat bars and 25 million Reese's! Thats a lot! I also found interesting was about the peanut section. I got to see how the peanuts for their shells off and into the bins.

This week we went to the Distribution center in Palmyra and learned about warehousing. It was really neat to learn about how they ship out the products and how they store all the products. Also, what each part in the warehouse is and how they function for each type. I learned that they store all the products here and have the trucks come and deliver them. I also learned that the Hershey Co is trying to go more international with its products to create a larger income. I also learned that the distribution center handled 2.8 billion pounds of candy this past year. To me, what was fun was getting with partners and making a poster on the different parts of the warehouse. I also enjoyed getting candy :). The boring part was sitting there and listening to the information. It was informative, but a little boring. What I would do to make the experience more interactive is, is to have more things interactive and hands-on learning, than listening to learn.
 * Week 20- Warehousing **


 * __Week 21__- //Order Management System// **

**__Step 1:__** "__//How Orders Are Taken"-//__ Orders can be recieved by phone, fax, web, EDI, or VMI. EDI stands for electronic data interchange and VMI stands for vendor match inventory. If an order was taken by EDI then a company would send its order through a network and the company receiving the order would then see it on the network and it would be ready for order entry. If and order was taken by VMI then the buyer of the product gives information to the supplier so the supplier can see if they have it inventory and ready for shipment. For example, Wal-Mart uses the VMI system because they are the buyer of Hershey's candies and they contact the Hershey Co. to get the chocolate. Many different, larger companies use EDI because it is becoming the more efficient way to place an order. Another example is if a small grocery store wanted to place and order, they might go through it by using the phone or web because they might not have the EDI system. They could place an order with the Hershey Co. by calling and letting the employee enter the data.

__**Step 2:**__ "__//Order Entry"//__- Once an order has been placed, companies use ATP (Available to Promise) to automatically check the amount of product, the price, location to where its being sent, and it checks the credit limit. Companies also use order entry to store the order that has been placed, to see any information about the order, and to make any changes that are necessary. For example, if a retailer ordered 10 boxes of chocolate with the Hershey Co. it would be placed in their order entry data system. If the retailer needed anything to be changed about the order, the Hershey Co. can look up the order and make the required changes. Another example is, if a company placed an order with the Hershey Co. but needed to know the pricing again, they could contact Hershey and they could pull up the information in their order entry system and then give it to the customer who placed it.

__**Step 3:**__ "__//Management by Exception"//__ -Management by exception means that an order that has been placed might have exceptions within the order. If an order is going through the system and it comes up with a problem, a customer service representative will have to fix the problem, whatever it may be. For example, if an order is moving through the automatic system and it has a problem, it will stop. The problem could be price errors, item statuses, or special requirements. An example would be, a product was sold to a customer but a problem occured and now the price of the product has changed. The customer service representative has to contact the customer and let them know there has been an issue and the representative has to solve the problem before it can continue through the system. Another example would be, a customer orders a certain amount of chocolate, but now they are out of stock for an amount of the product. The representative has to contact the customer and let them know and they have to fix it.

__**Step 4:**__ __//"ATP"//__ - ATP is considered as another exception because it checks what the company has on hand and if they can fufill the customer's demands. It is available to promise because once the order has been placed, then it goes through the system and it checks the availability for the customer. If something was not available, customer service would have to resolve the issue to make sure the resources come in so the product can get shipped out. For example, the order has been placed and passed through management by exception, but within the time period of going to ATP, the products to complete the order are not at the full amount. Customer service has to make sure they can get the product in the amount the customer needs so the order can get shipped out to him.

__**Step 5:**__ "__//Transportation//__"- The final step is the transportation. Once the order has gone through all the exceptions and is passed, it can now be sent to the transportation planning system. Transportation planning begins 48 hrs prior to being shipped to the destination. In the transportation planning, they decide where it is being shipped to and what trucks they will use. They also have to make sure each truck has enough products in it because the company does not want to pay for air (or open space in the truck). For example, if a company orders 30,607 lbs of product, but the truck can hold 43,000, they have to either add more products or find another truck that has little amount of product to be shipped. Another example is, if the truck has too much of product, say 48,000, they have to split it between two trucks because it will not be able to fit on the one. Now that the planning is done, it gets to the destination and chocolate will be served! (:

__**Week 22:**__ **//Distribution://** These past few weeks we have learned about how products have launched and moved through warehouse to distribution. Themes that are created by these lessons are placement and networking. For placement, this deals with warehouse and distribution. They both deal with the placement of products because warehouses are where the products get stored and distribution is the movement or placement of the products. For example, a product will be placed in a warehouse waiting for it to distributed to another location. This is all about the movement of the product. For the theme of networking, order management and distribution are related. They both are related by networking because order management links the product to get shipped across destinations and makes the order made with different companies. This is also related to distribution because it needs to be networked to get distributed across the globe. For example, a product will get made with order management and then it will be networked to get distributed to the customer.

**__Week 23__: //Pubic Relations://** My first impressions of PR were that it must be a stressful job when bad media comes out and you have to protect the reputation fo the company. PR is different than advertising because advertising is more about selling the company's brand and product, while PR is more about protecting the company and putting themselves out there. For advertising, you have to pay a company show your product on commercials, ads, and radio. Advertising is for a specific audience to help promote the brand to bribe the customer to buy the product. PR is a method that businesses use to promote a positive image of the company with press releases and community events. The method that interests me the most is Advertising because I think it is interesting to see the commercials and how it makes the audience want to buy the product. I'd like to learn the techniques to make the audience want the product.

**__Week 24:__ //Advertising//** My first impressions of advertising were that it was all about the commercials and publishes. I learned it is a lot more than that. The part of advertising I liked was the creative side. I enjoyed learning about the people who worked in creating the commercials and advertisements. They didn't have a specific 'fit'. They all can look different and act different, but it is amazing to see what they can come up with when given a task. The part of advertising I like is actually watching commercials. Seeing everything come together to get the consumer to buy the product takes work and creativity. I do not think I would be able to make a career out of advertising because I am not very creative like other people. I know you do not have to be all creative, but I mostly enjoy watching the commercials, not deciding what goes into them.

**__Week 25__: //Product Placement//** This week we learned about product placement and where items should be placed on the shelfs in grocery stores. I learned that it is best to put the best sold items on the eye level shelfs because it is easier to find, and to put the generic brand and heavier items on the ankle shelf. I also learned that customers spend about a minute in the aisle, so companies need to make decisions on how to make the product stick out and easy to find for the customer. I found interesting that 76% of shoppers are frustrated in the candy aisle and 25% end up walking away without purchase. I also found interesting that candy is the third worst category to shop in. A question I still have is about the plan-o-gram software and how it tracks where the items should be placed on the shelfs. I really enjoyed this topic and I could see myself working in this field with the group exercises and figuring out what people like and do not like.